Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (12 page)

“Maybe you ate sumpthin’ bad.”

“That doesn’t affect it,” Corey mumbled
into the pillow. “And I’ve only had an apple today.”

Sledge placed a hand on Corey’s arm.
“Just warn me next time so I can pull out.”

Corey lifted his head. “You’ll blow me
again?” he said, surprised.

“Yeah, it tasted good until you nuked
me.” Sledge lay down on his back and unzipped his pants, pulling his cock out.
“Now, your turn.”

“No choking me this time,” Corey said, relieved
he hadn’t put Sledge off.

“I don’t remember choking you—” Sledge’s
words cut off as Corey took him into his mouth. “Fuck yeah!”

Corey moved his mouth up and down
Sledge’s cock, having missed blowing Sledge so bad. He pushed his mouth further
down Sledge’s shaft, opening his throat as much as possible, Sledge’s girth and
length monstrous. Sledge groaned, making Corey retract his head.

“Sssh,” he said. “My mum might hear.”

“Okay,” Sledge breathed out, his eyes
hooded.

Corey moved his mouth back over Sledge’s
cock, concentrating on the knob. Sledge moaned louder.

Now getting annoyed, Corey pulled free.
“I told ja to keep quiet.”

“I can’t help it, it feels so good.”

“Then cover your mouth.”

Sledge covered his mouth. Corey moved back
over Sledge’s cock, Sledge’s groans this time muffled by his hand. Corey placed
his hand on his own dick, which was now hard again, Sledge a permanent turn-on.
He stroked himself as he sucked Sledge, getting lost in the pleasure.

A bang made him shoot off Sledge,
someone trying to open the door.

“Corey, what’s against the door?” his
mother called out.

She shoved it again, making Corey
quickly yank his pants over his cock. He covered Sledge’s with a blanket, then
pulled himself up and sat next to Sledge as his mum pushed the door open,
causing the chair to clatter to the floor.

She stepped over it, her narrowed gaze
locking onto Corey. “What were you up to, Corey?”

“He wuz givin’ me a blowjob,” Sledge
answered.

“Sledge!” Corey yelled, not believing
Sledge had just said that.

“But you were.” Sledge looked down at
the bed. “I need a new blanket. Corey messed it by coming in my mouth.”

Panicked, Corey grabbed Sledge’s mouth,
covering it.

Sledge pulled free. “Why’d ja do that
for? I wuz just sayin’—”

“Shut your mouth!”

“No, you shut your mouth!”

“BOYS!” Corey’s mother hollered.

They both turned to her, Corey’s heart
pounding a mile a minute, scared shitless. He wanted to cover his face with his
beanie, but felt like a possum caught in headlights, waiting for the imminent
crash to happen.

His mother scowled. “I told you not to
talk about sex, Sledge.”

“You asked.”

“I didn’t expect to hear
that!
”

“That’s not my fault, you busted down
the door. What didja think we were doin’?”

“Don’t be rude, Sledge, and you have to
be more discreet. For goodness’ sakes, it’s bad enough telling
me
, but
if Corey’s father heard what you said he would punch you, then throw you out.”

Sledge screwed up his face. “Everyone
gets mad at me. I dunno what’s right or wrong to say anymore.”

“Oh, darling.” She moved around to
Sledge’s side of the bed. “I understand you’re finding this hard,” she said,
sitting down next to him, “but there are certain topics you have to keep to
yourself.”

“Then what do I say if someone asks what
we were doin’ and we were kissing or fucking?”

She breathed out. “You can tell them it’s
a private matter. Can you do that?”

“But I often speak before I think.”

“I understand, sweetie, but please, with
anything to do about sex, don’t talk about it with anyone other than Corey.”

He nodded. “Can I have a drink of
pineapple juice, and Corey, too?”

“I don’t have pineapple juice in the
house, but I’ll buy some for you in my next shop. Will orange juice do
instead?”

He opened his mouth.

“
Sledge
, don’t say it,” Corey growled,
hoping he didn’t tell her why.

Sledge breathed out. “Orange juice is
cool.”

Smiling, she patted his leg and pushed
up. “Wipe your shirt, darling, you’ve got something on it.”

Sledge looked down at it. “It’s Corey’s
cum.”

“Sledge!” Corey yelled.

Sledge screwed up his face again. “I
didn’t meana say it.” He turned and pushed his face into the pillow.

Corey looked at his mother. “I’m sorry,
Mum,” he said, not knowing what to do, absolutely horrified over the whole
situation.

She breathed out. “Comfort him; this all
must be very hard on him. I’ll leave now, and next time I won’t enter unless
you say it’s clear. Though, I did warn you not to have sex here.” Mumbling
under her breath, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Corey wrapped his arms around Sledge’s
back. “Don’t get upset, I know you can’t help it.”

“I don’t wanna say the wrong things,”
Sledge mumbled into the pillow, “but they just come out, and your mum didn’t
say we couldn’t have sex. She just said we couldn’t share a room, so how wuz I
s’posed to know?”

Corey kissed the back of Sledge’s head.
“It’s not your fault, and you’ll learn, it’ll get better.”

Sledge turned around, making him let go.
“People are always gettin’ mad at me, I can’t say anything right.”

“You sayin’ you wanting to suck my cock
wuz right,” Corey smiled.

“That’s not helping.” Sledge frowned. “I
just wanna be able to talk without people yellin’ at me.”

“You’ll learn.”

“But what if I say the wrong thing in
front of your father? He’ll make me leave.”

“Then I’ll leave with you.”

“We can’t afford to get a house on our
own, we need others.”

“We’ll flat.”

“With who?”

“We’ll decide that if we hafta, but for now
we’re fine.”

“I’m not fine, I feel useless. I can’t do
fuck all. I get so bored.”

“I’ll spend lots of time with you.”

“Thanks, you’re great.” Sledge leaned
over, using his good arm to hug him, his injured one moving a little to rest on
Corey’s lap. Sledge had gotten back some movement in it. The doctor said it
would take a while to fully heal, along with his left leg, the nerve damage
extensive.

Sledge pulled back. “Can you get some
people to visit me?”

Corey nodded. “Who do you want?”

“Ash, Juliet, and my dad visited a lot,
but Dante hasn’t been in a coupla weeks. I wanna see him.”

“Beth said he’s been in the psyche
ward.”

“What! Why?”

“He had a breakdown, but got discharged
today.”

“Is he all right?” Sledge asked, looking
worried.

“Yeah,” Corey replied, not knowing.
“He’s fine.”

Sledge breathed out, looking relieved.
“Cool. Can you get him to come over?”

Corey nodded, praying that Dante would.

9

Beth

Beth entered the doctor’s office alone.

The doctor pushed up from his desk. He
was a slim, fifty-something man, with a balding patch and a big smile. “How are
you feeling today, Beth?” he asked.

“Not too good,” she replied, taking the
spare seat next to his desk. “I’m feeling nauseous, plus I had a bit of
spotting yesterday.”

The doctor sat down, his smile
disappearing. “The nurse didn’t mention that.”

“I didn’t tell her, just said I needed
to see you.”

“The next time you have spotting,
mention it to her. I would’ve found an appointment for you yesterday knowing
that. How much spotting is there?”

“Just a couple of drops.”

“It may not be from the pregnancy, but
to be safe, I’d still like to check the baby. I’ll call a nurse in while you go
lie down on the bed. Lift your shirt up and hitch your skirt down to just below
your hips.” He picked up the phone and asked a nurse to come in.

Beth went to the bed. She toed off her
sandals and climbed onto the thin mattress as the doctor pulled the curtain
around to shield her, disappearing from sight. Beth hitched her blouse up to
her bra and shimmied her skirt down. The doctor returned a moment later,
pulling back the curtain, a nurse accompanying him. He told the woman a few
things Beth didn’t understand. The matronly-looking nurse, who was wearing a
lilac dress, pulled a machine closer.

Beth’s attention returned to the doctor
as he ran his fingers over her stomach, his expression surprised. He turned to
the nurse, asking for a couple of things Beth couldn’t pronounce. The nurse
handed over a tube to the doctor, who squeezed some clear gel onto her stomach.
He handed the tube back to the nurse, swapping it for a cylindrical instrument.
The doctor placed the end on Beth’s stomach as the nurse switched on the small
monitor attached to the machine. A swooshing sound started up. Beth turned her
head towards the monitor, seeing a black and white image of what looked like
a...

Her eyes widened. “Is that my baby?” she
asked, astonished. She hadn’t expected to see anything this soon in the
pregnancy, but then again, she didn’t know anything about pregnancy, so hadn’t really
thought about it.

“Yes,” the doctor replied. “A perfectly
healthy baby.”

“She looks so big.”

“I don’t know the sex; you’ll have to
come back in three weeks to find that out.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you could find out
the baby’s sex until ages away.”

The doctor focused on her. “It’s not
ages away; your baby’s fifteen weeks old.”

Beth froze. “What?”

“You got the date of conception wrong.
You’re in your second trimester.”

Beth shook her head, knowing the doctor
had to be wrong. “I can’t be. I had unprotected sex ’bout six weeks ago with my
boyfriend. It had to be from then.”

“I can tell you one hundred percent that
the baby you see on the screen is not six weeks old. It’s almost four months.”

Beth continued to shake her head, panic
now rising up. “It
can’t
be. It has to be Dante’s baby...” She went
quiet, her heart almost stopping. Her mind went to the party she’d drunk too
much at, both her and Ash... Her hand shot to her mouth. “No!”

“Do you want me to call anyone for you?”
the doctor asked, looking concerned.

Beth’s mind went to her mother. She
shook her head, tears already welling up in her eyes.

The doctor handed her a tissue. “I think
it would be wise if you had someone come get you.”

“I can’t,” Beth sobbed. “I can’t.” She
pushed off the bed, making the doctor back up. She yanked down her blouse, not
caring that the doctor hadn’t wiped off the gel. Quickly hitching up her skirt,
she jammed her feet into her sandals.

“I would like you to come back in three
weeks,” the doctor said.

Beth
grabbed her purse. “Fine,” she said, taking off for the door, feeling like her
world had just ended.

***

Crying,
Beth drove towards Dante’s new home. She hadn’t even considered that the baby
could be Dante’s brother’s, because Ash had always been careful after she’d
stopped taking the pill. It had made her sick, so Ash wore condoms instead.

She clenched the steering wheel and
screamed, letting out all her emotions, her mind going wild. It must have
happened at the party for one of Ash’s friends. She wasn’t usually a drinker,
but they’d played a drinking game, the both of them getting so drunk she
couldn’t remember much of the night. They’d woken up in their bed together,
naked and not knowing how they’d gotten home. They’d found out later that one
of Ash’s friends had called a taxi for them, saying that they were so drunk
they’d been mauling each other to the point that everyone had kicked them out.
She’d been horrified, while Ash had laughed it off.

It must’ve happened then.

She stopped at a red light, mentally
counting the weeks back to the party...

She screamed again, the party just over
fifteen weeks. She started sobbing, full out crying, knowing she couldn’t tell
Dante ...
because she would lose him.
He was only with her because of
the baby, Kara his first choice.

A horn blasted behind her, making her
jump in her seat. The light had turned green, but all she saw was Dante walking
out of her life and right into Kara’s arms.

In a daze, she drove for another minute,
then did a U-turn. Fifteen minutes later she arrived home, noticing a police
car parked across the road from her flat. Her mind went to Saul, fear now
replacing sorrow. She pushed out of her Volkswagen and headed down the
driveway, relieved to see a female officer in the police car.

Recognising the woman, Beth crossed the
road, stopping by the driver’s window. “Hello, I saw you earlier at the police
station. Is there a problem?” she asked, noticing a policeman sitting next to
the woman, holding what looked like a coffee.

The woman wound the window down further.
“We got a call about a suspicious male lurking in your neighbourhood. My
partner and I are just here to make sure your street’s safe.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Have a nice
evening.”

Beth nodded at the policewoman, saying
thank you again. She turned back to her house, relieved it had nothing to do
with Saul. She unlocked the front door, calling out for Josie. Her cousin didn’t
answer. Beth called out again; surprised that Josie wasn’t home, since her car
was parked outside.

Beth went to Josie’s room and peeked
inside, spotting clothes tossed all over the place, a bra even hanging off a
lampshade. Remembering Josie was meeting some friends, Beth headed for her own
room, closing the door behind her. She lay down on the bed and placed a hand on
her stomach. Tears began to well up again, fear quickly following. She curled
into a ball, her tears lulling her to sleep, knowing she could never tell
Dante.

Ever.